Megane 1.4 Energy 1996

Without the engine number I cant be sure, but AFAIK the 1.4 and 1.6e's of that era were single point injected of approx 60 and 80bhp respectively- i.e. NOT the energy units. Though Renault did use lots of variants of engines depending on trim grade as well as model, and year!

if i'm right, they both have a single coil pack and leads and are single point injected.

Start at the basics paying particular attention to wiring, HT leads, connectors, and earths; the quality is at best mediocre and more often awful, especially if its had engine work or suffering leaky rocker gaskets etc etc.

Have the injector ultrasonically cleaned as a matter of course, and the throttle body and PCV system checked for leaks (split hoses especially common) and cleanliness.

Also check the CTS and ATS are returning sensible figures to the ecu and that the exhaust isnt blocked from a broken cat or wadding.

Mileage, level of maintanance, recent emissions results and typical MPG its doing would all help if you can find it out.

Tim..

On an old car with old technology I'd say this point towards the dizzy cap being worn or something similar.

Do your friend a favour - tell him to take it to a garage as you don't appear to know much about cars. Giving any explanation to you to pass off as your own would be a waste of time as you wouldn't understand it. You will only cause more damage tampering and a hefty repair bill. If your friend is so concerned why didn't he get it repaired? Is it him that has the problem with it, or you on his behalf!

It's a single point injection lump with 75bhp (if it's lucky). Most likely is an air leak. Check all vacuum hoses and the crankcase ventilation system for cracks/splits/leaks.

It is a distributor engine, so the distributor rotor arm could be suspect. Replace arm, cap and leads with new, check plug caps (0.9~1.0mm) and spray some butane round the engine bay while an assistant attempts to hold the engine @ 3k rpm. Any changes in engine note with the gas would indicate an air leak.

Well thanks for that useful advice.

Really, thanks very much. TOSSER.

OK - have just spent a couple of hours on it and of course it's behaving quite well today. It does appear to be single point injection.

Compression was about 10-11bar on cyls 1,2 and 4 but only about 6bar on no.3 Is that seriosuly bad or could it be badly adjusted valve clearances? A squirt of oil in the cylinder did not improve the compression.

I've left my colleague with my feeler gauges to go and adjust the valve clearances tomorrow - there is a loud tap that sounds like my old fiesta used to when its valve clearances needed doing. We couldn't do them today as the engine was warm. Also asked him to check for air leaks as we ran out of daylight for that.

Haven't replaced them yet but have given ht leads and good clean with WD40 and cleaned up the rotor arm and distributor cap with steel wool. Haven't seen a distributor cap for years! All seems OK now apart from the compression issue.

Tony

(pete, you need not reply)

messagenews:IYC0h.42715$ snipped-for-privacy@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

and of course it's behaving

Thanks for all the help.

I did the valve clearances this morning and after warming it up and running a compression test all the cyls were around 11 bar. So at least that one is sorted which gives me a little more faith in the car.

As a follow up question I was attempting to replace the nearside coil spring and wasn't able to free the lower (top is fine) mounting bolt that attaches the damper to the swivel hub. The nut came off but the bold seems stuck fast although it will rotate. Gentle persuasion with wooden block and hammer will it move about 2mm out but no further. Any suggestions?

Matthew